“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” Charles Darwin

This is from one of the hands down best Rap albums of all time (Personal Journals). I functions well as individual tracks, but as a whole it is an amazing work of art. I have listened to it countless times and tracks I didn't like at first I have come to love. Every single listen I find more meaning in the lyrics.

Sage Francis (Newer):

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Sage has come a long way since Personal Journals. He has managed to keep a lot of the complexity while bringing in more optimistic themes and new music. Sage also founder Strange Famous records, which is slowly building and acquiring some top tier talent.

Non-Prophets (Sage Francis and Joe Beats):

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The larger album serves as a critique of hip-hop at the time the album was released. The music samples classic hip-hop, jazz, and other musical influences of the genre. The rest of the album may be difficult to appreciate if you are just now coming into the genre, but this song stands on it's own really well.

Eyedea & Abilities:

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Eyedea is amazing, but unfortunately died a few years ago. Very good lyrics, very good flow. Most of his discography is very, very good.

Atmosphere (Slug and Ant):

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Atmosphere is very diverse is the type of music they put out. Slug is important to know about beyond his music because he is the founder of Rhymesayers, the label for some of the best indie rappers.

Brother Ali:

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Great artist with a unique perspective. He gets political quite a bit, but it is interesting even when I disagree with him.

Aesop Rock:

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Great flow, but the lyrics are very abstract. It took me a while to figure out how to listen to him, but now I really like most of his work.

Scroobius Pip:

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EL-P:

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Adam Warrock:

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He started out doing Nerdcore hip-hop, but I have full confidence he can break out in the larger scene. He is smart, hard working, and talented. I met him a few months ago at a small concert and he blew me away.

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on the individual members, as they all seemed to become solo artists afterwards. For example, I have the following albums in my library, each of which has a favorite song on it:

"I think computer viruses should count as life. Maybe it says something about human nature, that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. Talk about creating life in our own image."--Stephen Hawking

"I think computer viruses should count as life. Maybe it says something about human nature, that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. Talk about creating life in our own image."--Stephen Hawking